Expectations vs Reality: Career Choices
This B2 upper-intermediate lesson examines the gap between teenage career dreams and workplace reality. Students watch a video comparing career aspirations from 2000 and 2018, then discuss how automation and misalignment affect job prospects. The lesson develops vocabulary around professional outcomes and career planning while encouraging critical thinking about future work.
Lesson overview
- Explore the disconnect between career expectations and actual professional outcomes
- Learn specialized vocabulary including job shadowing, misalignment, and automation risks
- Develop argumentation skills through discussions about education and career preparation
- Practice using prefixes to expand vocabulary related to work and planning
Student's Version (Light/Dark)
Teacher's Version (Answer Keys)
Printable Classroom Version (A4)
| Level | Vocabulary | Video Length | Lesson Time |
| B2 / Upper-Intermediate | 10 words | 5:59 min | 60-80 min |
Vocabulary
- professional outcome
- career path
- misalignment
- over aligned
- job shadowing
- worksite visit
- job fair
- disadvantaged kids
- affluent kids
- risk of automation
Contents
- Lead-in
- Agree or disagree
- Video preview
- Video
- Keywords
- Discussion
- Video phrases
- Prefixes
- Profiles
- Quotes
Start with the lead-in on page 2 where students consider which jobs appeal to 15-year-olds in their city. Present the list of careers and ask students to rank their top five, then explain their choices. Page 3 has agree or disagree statements about teenage career advice and part-time jobs. These tend to get debate going.
Page 4 prepares students for the video with a prediction task using the title and keywords. Have them guess what the video will cover. Play the six-minute video from page 5 and ask students to take notes on the five keywords. Stop after each section if needed. After viewing, students can compare their notes with the summaries on page 6.
The discussion questions on pages 7-8 dig into the video themes. Questions move from describing teenage life in 2000 versus 2018 to whether 15-year-olds actually need clear career paths. The automation question works well for upper-intermediate business English students. Give pairs 3-4 minutes per question before opening it up to the class.
Page 9 introduces phrases from the video like “professional outcome” and “job shadowing.” Students explain meanings and create example sentences. The prefix activity on page 10 covers word formation with terms like “misalignment” and “underestimate.” Students pick the right prefixes and write sentences showing correct usage.
The profiles activity on pages 11-12 puts the lesson concepts to use. Students read descriptions of four teenagers and suggest two suitable jobs and two terrible jobs for each. This gets them thinking about personality-career fit. Have students explain their choices. Finish with the career quotes on pages 13-15, asking which one fits their own views best.
